Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul, Dies At 76

Aretha Franklin, also known as “the Queen of Soul,” has died at the age of 76.

According to CNN, she died at her home in Detroit surrounded by her family and friends.

The Franklin’s statement states that the “official cause of death was due to advance pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type, which was confirmed by Franklin’s oncologist, Dr Philip Phillips of Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit,”

Before her death, she was in hospice care at her home.

She was the first woman admitted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and she had 88 Billboard chart hits during the rock era, tops among female vocalists. She won 18 Grammy awards, including the honour for best female R&B performance for eight straight years.

She, at the peak of her career, had more than two dozen Top 40 hits. Some of her top hits are I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Loved You) (1967), Respect (1967), Think (1968), I Say a Little Prayer (1968), (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (1967), and Do Right Woman, Do Right Man (1967).